Senators fight over exclusion of Kano, Plateau in N’East commission

Lawmakers, predominantly drawn from the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones, on Tuesday disagreed sharply on the floor of the Senate.

This followed the removal of Kano and Plateau States as beneficiaries of North East Development Commission (NEDC).

Though the bill was eventually passed, after the intervention of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, lawmakers, particularly from the North-West are unhappy and may sponsor an amendment bill to include other states in the near future.

The commission, is tasked with the responsibility of rebuilding the North-East region after years of destruction by activities of the Boko Haram Islamic terrorists.

Senator Kabiru Marafa from Zamfara state, while opposing the passage of the bill on Tuesday, argued that the removal of the two states was uncalled for and called on his colleagues to reject it.

He argued: “This report should be rejected. There are other parts of the north that were affected by insurgency. We cannot adopt this report and pass it. This is wrong. There were terrorist attacks in Kano and Plateau and why should they remove these two states even when we have already resolved here?

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“Another thing is that, out of 14 members of the committee, only five members signed the report and that means those who did not sign are not in support of what has been done by the committee. We are all from the north and we need to carry everybody along.”

Another lawmaker from Kano state, North-West, Kabiru Gaya, also called for the non-passage of the bill. He said Kano as one of the most affected states by activities of Boko Haram Islamic terrorists, should be listed as a beneficiary of the commission.

“I sponsored this bill because I believe we are all from the north. I am from the North-West, but I sponsored a bill for the North-East. I am from Kano state and I have never seen anywhere in Nigeria where up to 500 people died in one attack. But it happened in Kano state and places were destroyed.

“I think it is unfair to remove Kano and Plateau states from states that will benefit from the commission. It is also questionable to note that only five out 14 members of the committee signed the report. I urge my colleagues to reject this report,” he maintained.

The positions of the two Senators were countered by the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who argued that those calling for the inclusion of Kano and Plateau States, must equally consider other states outside the North-East affected by activities of insurgents.

Ndume said: “If we are insisting on including Kano and Plateau states, we must also include Niger, Benue, Imo, FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Kogi States as part of those to benefit from the commission.

“We have a situation on ground. I beg my colleagues that we adopt this report. The bill can be later amended to accommodate other states. We have to either accept or reject the bill. We need to act fast now and save the humanitarian crisis in the North-East.”

In his final intervention, the Senate President, Saraki, urged aggrieved lawmakers to sponsor an amendment bill in the near future when it is eventually signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We have been on this case for over a year. We must look at this collectively. This does not just affect the North-East. It affects other places in the north. Let us pass the bill and then go back and make amendments to accommodate other states. The House of Representatives has passed it,” he said.

The same bill has already been passed by the House of Representatives. It was sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara in the Green Chamber.

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